New understandings of communities and ourselves: community-based participatory research with Alaska Native and Lower 48 youth

In the summer of 2014, students from universities in the contiguous United States (Lower 48) and Inupiat youth from Alaska carried out a pilot project as participants/co-researchers in a process called Intergenerational Dialog, Exchange, and Action (IDEA). This action-oriented, community-based, and participatory research method was first developed in 2008, as a platform for structuring dialog between adults, Elders and youth within a community, and for extending resonant ideas emerging from these discussions through Photovoice and digital storytelling amongst youth participants. This pilot study was designed to investigate the feasibility and potential of university students from the Lower 48 and Indigenous youth from Alaska to carry out the IDEA process together as co-researchers. The results of the pilot suggest that it is both possible and meaningful for IDEA to be conducted by a team of youth co-researchers. We found that participation in IDEA expanded the perspectives of youth co-researchers from both Alaska and the Lower 48 in parallel, yet different ways. Exploring the strengths of older community members, being exposed to different ways of living and being, and having opportunities to reflect on and build narratives around these ideas, allowed all the co-researchers to develop a new understanding of their own communities and their roles and responsibilities within them. This paper shares youth co-researcher reflections of the process and the ways in which the process prompted these new perspectives about themselves, their respective communities and their roles within them.     

Selfies and Sensationalism on the Campaign Trail: A Visual Analysis of Snapchat's Political Coverage

Political communication has changed drastically in recent years, and in the 2016 election cycle, the messaging app Snapchat entered the arena. Snapchat is a virtually based messaging service that allows users to send and receive time-sensitive, visual messages called “snaps.” This study offers a visual analysis of news delivered via Snapchat, revealing three main themes: hard news sensationalized, soft news sensationalized, and limitations of the platform for political news. While Snapchat does indeed provide hard news to its users, much of it is sensationalized in a manner consistent with the platform but not with contemporary standards of journalism. Snapchat's value and influence as a news source is discussed in further detail.